Flatbush rapper Archie Bang is proud to declare himself an "80's Baby"
and the artwork of "Never Say Die Vol. 1" reflects it. Archie places
himself squarely in the center of a cinematic gang known as
The Goonies, with the
most visually distinctive (and disfigured) member Sloth flanking him.
The album's "Intro" freely samples from the film's dialogue. For those
who grew up seeing it in childhood (as I did) these are welcome
callbacks, but if it's all unfamiliar don't sweat it too much. The
movie airs frequently on cable, is a cheap digital rental if you can't
wait until then, and the album functions equally well regardless of
your familiarity with 1980's pop culture.

Familiarity is if anything a bit of an impediment for Archie Bang.
From the outset let's make it clear there's nothing whack about this
emcee. The diction is clean, the breath control not lacking, the
rhymes not poorly written, the delivery not overly monotone or flat.
The biggest problem is that Archie Bang sounds like the typical
above average New York rapper, which is still above average, but
that still means you've heard him before. Archie Bang will at some point
remind you of at least a half dozen NYC rappers over 52 minutes, and
I'd include Saigon among others.
He's not as charismatic nor as lyrically vivid as Sai, but rap anthems
like "Summer Time" show his potential:

"Say gotta throw the gloss on candy paint
Been grindin all winter now it's time to play
Archie see skirts, Archie give chase
Hit the cookout, she gon' fix me a plate
My hood to yo' hood, say it ain't the same
Summer time drama, we ain't on that page
On some G shit, be best you behave"

There are plenty of enjoyable songs on "Never Say Die" that show
the promise and potential that Archie Bang holds - the 12 Keyz
produced "Blasphemy" and the harrowing Sargon the Great produced
"Rewind" among them.

I'm having a real hard time splitting the atom on this one, which
is why I mean the following sentence as both a compliment and
criticism - "Never Say Die Vol. 1" is the kind of album I could
play as background music while driving around without paying
much attention to it. It's not bad - in fact songs like "Ain't a
Killer" and "The Promise" are perfectly good, and he's even
tapped into the hot flavor of now by getting Troy Ave to appear
on his "Hey Luv" remix. There's absolutely nothing on "Never Say
Die" to make me want to turn it off or stop listening, and yet
nothing that makes me say it's a must own either. It's just there.